Printable View
I got in my first day today.
It was very nice, gromers were in very good shape.
I even enjoyed a few runs in Sun softened manke. It was ok But I dont really have the legs for it yet.
The Tourons will have a nice time @ The Rose this Christmas. Probably the best December conditions in a few years.
Everyone keeps saying that but two years ago was killer from Thanksgiving until it rained in January. Last year suck, tho.
^^ Just from chairlift conversations I am amazed at how many people have already forgotten 2 years ago... After last year everyone seems to think that December always completely sucks.
There was still good snow to be had this weekend. You'll probably have to ski some crappy snow too. Despite fond memories of two years ago, I also do remember last year, and given that, I'm pretty happy right now...
This looks far better compared to the forecasts we have seen in the last 2 weeks. There is certainly some level of stoke coming soon.
Attachment 127571
Ottime, Red Sleds stayed in the Bay. Fischer WRC SL skis were the call for the weekend, from what I could see. Kinda was wishing I had some ... to mount with bindingfreedom inserts and Dynafits so I wouldn't need to change boot soles, heh.
Sunday was a bust on weather - way colder than forecasted, strong E winds high up to keep a lot of high elevation aspects firm. Saturday was decent skiing weather/conditions until clouds settled high up around 2 PM and things started setting up quickly. This isn't Dec 2010, but might be better than Dec 2004 - coverage up high is good. I didn't have my camera, but the Carson Range is plastered - Nipple looks pure white (a wet/refrozen, shimmering, shiny, white, haha). Pyramid was looking mighty tasty too ... I'm anxious to get skins back on soon.
Saturday night, TAFF killed it - best TAFF ever, by far (okay I don't have many under my belt to speak of, but it was seriously amazing, and very well organized this year). Hanging with Nuthon, others, even Tahoe Todd until 2 AM was a blast.
[/weekendreport]
Anybody visit Heavenly, Kirkwood, or Mt. Rose over the weekend? I'm coming to Tahoe later this week, staying at Heavenly, but might spend a day at Kirkwood or spend the last day staying in Reno and ski at Rose if conditions warrant. I'm having a little bit of a hard time understanding why Heavenly isn't opening more terrain at the top considering all the snow they got up high, or at the bottom, considering all their snow-making capacity. Kirkwood says they're totally open, but I wonder about surface conditions. Today is the last day I can change my housing arrangements without penalty, so any info greatly appreciated!
Quote:
Originally Posted by johndc
Heavenly doesn't get much snow compared to Kirkwood and there haven't been many good snow making days. Heavenly's base is really low too. The cutoff line for any snow right now is 7000 ft but at 8000 feet (Kirkwood base) there is a good three feet or more. A lot of Heavenly's trails are worthless but if Dipper and Comet are open you can have some fast fun there.
kirkwood is the place for you. great coverage top to bottom and they will get the most snow out of this next one too.
We did Kirkwood on Saturday and Heavenly on Sunday. Kirkwood has amazing coverage, but was generally fairly icy until some areas softened up in the afternoon. Heavenly has way less snow, but if you compare groomers to groomers, it was better than KW and we all had more fun on Sunday ripping around at high-speed. They do an incredible job with grooming, and there was more of it available than KW. We only ventured off the groomed a couple of times at either place due to snow conditions. No idea what level skier you are, but if it snows more than 12" on Wednesday/Thursday, Kirkwood will be a wide-open feast whereas Heavenly has a long way to go before anything off-piste below 9,000' is really safe.Quote:
Originally Posted by johndc
Heavenly has a lot of snow up top (but less than Kirkwood) and most of the upper mountain is open including tree skiing on both Nev/Cal and they opened Olympic yesterday (But no Mott or Killebrew) The low base and the huge rains at the lower elevations killed any lower elevation snow making they had up to then. I think the Cal Base may open next weekend though (but probably loading & downloading gunbarrel) and possibly stagecoach as they are blowing snow to try and get them ready. The mountain biking is still really good down low also. You can see from the pics there is a very distinct snow line.
PM Vets. He skied KW and Heavenly yesterday. As well as N*, Sierra and a few others. I dont think he ha a Rose pass, so no side by side intel from there.Quote:
Originally Posted by johndc
Mt. Rose has everything open except for the chutes. Coverage is great -- they got a lot of snow out of the pineapple storms last week.
This weekend was springlike conditions, but colder -- frozen/groomed in the morning, softening some by mid-day.
Thursday this week is shaping up to be pretty good - time to put in for a day off at work. Looking forward to some top to bottom skiing at AM. Downloading at Squaw is a buzzkill (better than last year at least).
I got a pretty full first day in at Alpine on Saturday. Called it after the best run of the day -- skier's left of Sunspot, not quite to South Peril, where the snow had corned up quite nicely by 1:30. Figured it wasn't going to get any better, so I called it beer thirty.
Kirkwood was 100% open but icier than shit this weekend. Heavenly was more limited in terrain and busier, but the snow was better. I even had some enjoyable tree skiing. I'd brave the headaches/crowds at Heavenly no question given a choice between the two as of yesterday.
Alpine was better than I thought it was going to be on Saturday. The sun softened things up and brought some fun lines into play.
Checked out Heavenly on Sunday. The long runs were nice, and the park was even enjoyable. It was colder, but I still managed to find some good snow.
^Texas, Heavenly didn't seem crowded. There were short lift lines everywhere, except downloading the Gondola, which wasn't that bad.
I did score a free cookie while in the gondola download line, so that helped.
I didn't have lift lines at all, but some of the easier runs/funnel areas got a bit busy. Approaching the gondola area from the park comes to mind.
I'm admittedly a bit of a baby about crowded runs though... I'm always worried about killing someone/getting killed when sharing a run with a bunch of rookies, families, badasses, speed demons and everyone else on the mountain. Funnel areas just make me uncomfortable.
If you knew where to look (anywhere in the sun) KW was pretty $$ all weekend, given the circumstances. Fast and sunny, felt like late April.Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasGortex
^ (@TexGoreTex) then avoid the Sky to Nevada traverse on pretty much any Saturday between Xmas and Easter. That right there is one of the single most dangerous and laughable traverse trails ever graded. Heavenly's finest engineering work ever. It should be rated black diamond. Merging from Comet to Olympic traverse might be more dangerous, but not as laughable. Plenty of strong lift layout planning on that mountain.
Pretty much the only way for any snowboarder to make that traverse is to go really fast and straight, which would be fine if Heavenly weren't full of small children and beginner weekender snowboarders/first timers who weave erratically, clip edges, and then drift left when you yell from behind "COMING UP ON YOUR LEFT!"
Resort excitement in its purest form!
More exciting than the mountain run? That should be even more fun on a Saturday afternoon after Squaw fills up it's parking lot with high rise condos.Quote:
Originally Posted by SchralphMacchio
I agree completely.Quote:
Originally Posted by SchralphMacchio
They should just ban those damned one plankers. Problem solved. :-)
If this storm pans out, I'll be up for this weekend. Maybe a tour on Saturday.
I worked pretty hard to stay in the sun, which was better, but I could have used a local guide. I am a Colorado skier visiting the area for the first time. Ice beat Wednesday's rain at least!Quote:
Originally Posted by RockChalk
If I am reading the map correctly, my fiancee actually had a mild collision on the Sky->Nevada Demolition-Derby International-Speedway under basically identical conditions to those you described.Quote:
Originally Posted by SchralphMacchio
Yep. And rain on snow and fat snow up high even while thin at the base still beats skiing on dirt.Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasGortex
Nice to hear people remembering how shitty last year was. Gives you perspective. And go ahead and forget how nice two years ago was. Hopefully, when that happens again, you'll be pleasantly surprised (again).
love the new sign at heavenry - NO STRAIGHTLINING
Birthday stoke Sunday at Northstar:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Y...1355198688.jpg
Saw world's #1 dad carrying three sets of planks (third one is on the backpack with the pizza pincher still attached)
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-R...1355198858.jpg
They have one at Northstar too. You just have to tell patrol you were making one really big long turn. ;-)Quote:
Originally Posted by gimpy
signs signs everywhere there's signs. fucking up the scenery, taking my lines
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/a...1&d=1355202365
^ How long until Vailwood gets one at the top of Once?
Kirkwood used to have 'no tucking' signs all over the place...
went for a little walk on saturday from CP to the wood. thought we might have been the first, but a solo track was out there.
sisters skied good and smooth with an inch on the rain crust layer.
lines down to the lake were pretty sketchy. so we opted for the low angle safe route. the lake is covered and looks frozen, but we decided not to cross. Cali and West shore should be prime after this next system..........for a good slide.
West shore often rips a hefty wind load when it releases on a crust.
Ask Punani.
i was actually playing that out just last night in my mind. the scary point in my dream was where i outran the avalanche out on the lake, but the weight of the slide broke the ice around me and i was clinging to car sized chinks of ice that wanted to flip over
Just make sure the helmet cam is on. That's all I ask.Quote:
Originally Posted by powdork
Fucking Vail MORONS!!!
A couple years ago my buddy got this scenario on helmet cam on Ralston lake, minus the part of the ice breaking up. Dude transitioned onto the lake so hard he got a bloody nose when his knee smashed into his face.Quote:
Originally Posted by powdork
http://contour.com/videos/watch/skie...g-an-avalanche
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ottime
Honestly curious how you more experienced bc guys would manage terrain this weekend given the high probability of storm/wind slabs ripping loose on crusts all over the place. It's enough to scare me off of anything remotely steep, I'll likely opt to just battle it out at the resort.Quote:
Originally Posted by splat
Saturday at KW, there was a patroller standing under the chair telling people to put the bar down. I just looked at him like "Seriously??".
If ripping groomers even remotely interests you, NS was the spot to be yesterday. Empty, everything immaculately groomed, and a number of runs that had been closed for weeks for race training, were open. They've also sculpted "Magic Moguls" (they never had enough snow to do it last season), which is always a fun diversion.
Methinks the "No Tucking" / "No Straightlining" signs only come out on the weekends and holidays when it's busy as I haven't seen 'em at the Star as of yet.
The irony to all of this is that one of the first things you teach a rugger in a lesson is how to do a straight glide without falling, which is essentially teaching them to straightline out the box...
free skiing at Bear Valley next Thu 12/20
Attachment 127674
Attachment 122518
ski bare!
^^^^ and then he looked at you and thought " yeah i am serious you fucking toolshed." you think he is there cuz he thought it up. no, he is doin his job as per vailcorp's policy. a good friend (who posts here) had his kid fall of a chairlift so its not w/o merit. if u dont like it, go hike up something where no one will tell you what to do. next time please find something worthy to bitch about. HAH!!!!
if avy issues are a concern, its all about choice of terain. here on the s shore, the luther pass trees are the go-to safe zone mr smith